One Fine Morning
by Hopeakaarme
Summary: One fine morning, two creatures meet each other by the side of the Lake Hogwarts. Despite the deep bond they share, circumstances force them apart, leaving them to dream. Possible squick factor, NOT a humour fic! SLASH SnapeGiant Squid.


Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Of course, there have always been jokes about Giant Squid/somebody ships. I've never thought much about them, just laughed as everybody else. Then, however, I came across yet another fic where a Snape/Giant Squid ship was mentioned -- for the sake of humour, of course. However, it made me think. And finally, I couldn't resist the temptation, and thus I decided to try whether any kind of relationship (platonic only, though! Minds out of gutter, people!) could be possible between these two solitary, outcast creatures. Therefore, this is _not_ a humour fic, but rather a romantic one.

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**One Fine Morning**

It wasn't a dark and stormy night.

In fact, it was a beautiful, bright summer morning. There wasn't a storm, but there was indeed a bit of wind, driving small waves over the Lake Hogwarts. Except for the quiet hum of the wind, it was absolutely silent. There wasn't a single living creature in sight anywhere on the Hogwarts grounds.

Then, however, a single figure could be seen standing by the lake. The wind caught a few locks of midnight-black hair, throwing them in the air, and threw back the cloak that seemed far too heavy to be worn on such a warm day. However, the figure did not notice or acknowledge this. Instead, he -- for it was the figure of a man -- raised his head, and let out a shout -- or, rather, it sounded like series of waves crashing against the shore. Then, he looked over to the lake as if waiting for something.

And then, he saw that something. One by one, several tentacles rose from the lake, and at last the massive head. Approaching the shore, the Giant Squid made his way through the water.

Of course, his name wasn't really the Giant Squid. That was only what he had been dubbed by several generations of students, which the creature himself thought to be very rude. After all, he didn't call them all Human, now did he? Not that they'd known, of course; very few understood what he said. Since speak he did, at times, but only to those selected few who could actually understand his words.

'Good afternoon, Adam,' said the figure by the lake, reaching out a hand to softly caress the sleek surface of one tentacle. The long appendage was then wrapped around a slim waist. However, the man didn't even bat an eyelid as he was gently, carefully lifted into air and carried close to the large head.

'_Why, good afternoon to you, too, Cain_,' Adam replied. Of course, Cain wasn't the man's true name. However, it was what Adam usually called him, a nickname of sorts. '_Have you been well_?'

'As well as you can expect, what with everything that has been going on,' sighed the man. 'I couldn't come to visit any earlier; the Dark Lord decided to make Pettigrew stay at my place 'to help'. As if. The rat is there merely to spy on me and to try to find out my true loyalties. Not that he'd be smart enough for that, anyway,' he then added with a snort, his pale face twisted in a momentary sneer.

'_Do be careful, though,_' Adam advised him. '_I don't want to lose you_.'

A brief smile touched the pale lips. 'Rest assured that I do not plan to go anywhere anytime soon, definitely not to my death. I've become quite attached to living, you see. It's a habit that I find hard to dispose of.'

'_Don't joke around,_' the squid said sternly. '_Take care of yourself, Cain, honestly. Should you die, I would have nobody left._' There was a definite tone of sadness in the squid's voice, which to anybody uninformed would have mostly resembled the sounds of popping bubbles and splashing waves.

To this, the man merely patted the tentacle holding him, a gentle smile on his lips. No, he was not about to abandon his friend. What most people never realized was that Adam was not just an intelligent beast but actually a sentient creature, centuries' worth of magical exposure having formed him into something as intelligent as a human, if not more so. Cain was proud to be one of the few people who ever got to see past that surface. Even while he had been a student he had at times ran off to spend the night beside the lake, talking with Adam. His schoolmates had merely thrown things at the "beast", used him to scare first-years, or gone to swim with him. True, Cain did swim in the lake as well, often accompanied by his gigantic friend, but to him, Adam was a companion, not just a living toy of sorts.

Over the years they had formed a strong bond. Ever since he had first noticed his ability to decipher words among the sounds of water, Cain had spent endless hours talking, playing, or just silently being with Adam. It was always in secret, of course -- had anybody else known, they would have deemed him insane.

A tentacle gently caressed his cheek, then his lips, and he suppressed a sigh. Having both spent years being shunned by everybody else, always cast out of everything, the two unlikely companions had found more than just friendship in each other. Cain to Adam, and Adam to Cain, was somebody who would not judge by appearances, who saw beneath the surface to what dwelled inside. Somebody who looked past the unpleasant cover and saw the beauty inside -- raw, even harsh beauty, yes, but beauty still, something that most people never encountered in their relationships. And, having the company of the other whenever Cain could come to his usual place by the lake, the two had a relationship more satisfying than most of those shared by humans among themselves. There never could be anything but words and gentle caresses from one of them to the other, of course; they were too different to be truly together. However, the bonds they shared, emotional as well as intellectual, were certainly strong enough to amount to true love.

At times Cain dared to dream, though. His Animagus from was a giant squid, that he knew; otherwise he could have never understood Adam's words. Most would have laughed if they had known, but he didn't care. Adam was a magnificent, powerful creature, blessed with a lifespan multiple times as long as that of any wizard, and if anything was Cain proud to at least somehow share the traits of his beloved's species. Maybe one day, when the pointless war was finally over, and he was free, he would be able to complete his transformation. Once that day came, he would leave the world of humans behind without a single moment of regret to join Adam in his realm of fish and water, not looking back even once.

Of course, to do that, he at first had to survive the war. And, although that did seem unlikely, he was certainly going to try his best -- if not otherwise, then just to be able to return to Adam.

They talked for a long time, of serious matters as well as trivial things. Adam inquired about the political situation of the Wizarding World, and Cain asked about the lives of fish and merpeople, genuinely interested in the happenings of the underwater world. It was, after all, Adam's world, and thus as important to him as it was to the only creature he could ever claim to love.

At last, however, he had to put an end to the conversation. 'I'm sorry, but I have to go,' he said, genuinely sorry. He would have wanted to stay for a longer time yet. 'If I don't, the rat will become suspicious. I will return as soon as possible, though,' he then added, yet again patting the tentacle in reassurance.

Adam sighed -- well, the sound came as close to a sigh as the creature could accomplish, anyway -- and yet again gently caressed the man's face. '_Do remember to return, then_,' he said as he swam nearer to the shore, finally gently placing Cain back onto the rock on top of which he had stood earlier.

'Oh, rest assured I will,' replied Cain, forcing himself to use light tone. 'Well, in case I don't manage to get back before the school starts, I wish you luck with the new students. Hopefully none will fall out of the boat this year,' he added with a smirk. Then he put a hand onto the tentacle still around his waist, for the last time caressing the long appendage before it let go of him. 'Goodbye, Adam... And please be safe.'

For a moment, it was absolutely silent. Then, however, he heard a quiet voice saying, '_Be safe, Severus_.'

Nodding quietly in response, the man didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and walked away. However, halfway to the castle he stopped momentarily, turning his head to look back over his shoulder. However, there was nobody or nothing there, the calmness of the lake disturbed only by the small waves the wind drew by its wake.

A silent sigh on his lips, Severus Snape turned away once again, leaving Adam behind.

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A/N: Please tell me what you think about it. Even if you review only to tell me that I'm insane, that's fine with me -- as long as you tell me just why you think I'm insane. If there are enough people who actually have bothered to read the fic, I might create a sequel.  



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